Tuesday, June 10, 2008

*Note: My Internet was out since 9:00 this morning and I just got back online about 15 minutes ago! My apologies for posting this so late. It couldn't be helped.

I have to admit that I wasn't all too excited to make this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe, La Palette's Strawberry Tart. Not because I have anything against strawberry tarts. I happen to like them very much. And not because I don't think it's a good recipe, because it is a very good one. The reason for my reluctance is because of the timing of this challenge. Here in Florida, strawberry season has been over for months. The only fresh strawberries we have access to are shipped in from California. California strawberries are undeniably tasty, but we don't usually get the really good, ripe and sweet ones until later in the season.

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I thought about what other fresh fruits I might substitute in this recipe. After a search mission at the market, I was a little disappointed. The strawberries were okay, but they still had that bland, watery taste. The peaches and nectarines were hard as rocks. The apricots were sour, as were the raspberries and blackberries. The cherries were not quite dark and plump enough yet. I picked up some strawberries, blackberries and cherries and crossed my fingers, hoping that with enough sugar and shots of booze, they would turn out to be sweet, juicy and delicious!

I sliced my berries and pitted my cherries. Then, I left them and the blackberries to macerate in their own sugar/liqueur baths. I added Chambord to the strawberries, cassis to the cherries and blackberry brandy to the blackberries. It worked! All three of the fruits soaked up enough of their respective cocktails to make very respectable tart fillings.

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Dorie's original recipe yields one large tart that is sliced and then dressed with fruit. I decided to make little tartlets so that everyone could choose their own fruits to fill theirs with. I also felt that the tartlets would act like small containers and hold the fruit and juice in better. I topped the tartlets with a dollop of sweetened creme fraiche (after all, they are French), and the merest hint of freshly ground black pepper. (Ooh La La!)

I made my tartlets using Dorie's Sweet Tart Dough, which I've always had good results with. No problems this time either. I did add an extra egg yolk because I felt the dough wasn't moist enough.

I tasted all three kinds of the tartlets, (I had to. Don't judge me!) and I can't decide which I liked best. They were all good. I think I would have enjoyed them more if they also had some kind of a cream filling, but that wasn't part of this recipe. Maybe next time!

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....If you'd like to try this tart, the original recipe can be found on page 374 in Baking: From My Home to Yours and on Serious Eats. My thanks go out to Marie of A Year from Oak Cottage for selecting this week's recipe. Please be sure to check out the TWD blogroll to see what delicious takes on this tart the others have come up with.

Those look fantastic and I'm glad you did the trio. The California strawberries mock me every week when I go to Publix--they just don't compare to the gems I was spoiled with a few months ago. :-/ I think I'd go for the cherries tart first since that seems to be my fruit of the month...yum!

As a berry fetishist, I would like to personally thank you for making my week, heh heh heh :) Those are the most seductive things I've seen today. Did they spill their macerated juices all over when you cut the crust? You have good cooking sense, to use the liqueur and black pepper! Genius!

In Ottawa, there's a little bakery called "The Three Tarts". Your picture of the three tarts is perfect! They all look delicious, especially since they're all soaked in different liqueurs. Amazing.Shari@Whisk: a food blog

Yours are some of the prettiest ones I've seen!! Wonderful and lovely as always. Btw, I got the oven mitt in the mail :) You are too much! Thank you, sweetie. Just love that it's from you - makes it a million times more special. xxoo

p.s. the picture of the steak from your previous post is staring at me from under the comment window... my word that looks soooooooo good right now!

I wonder if the chambord stawberries are tasty like the chandlers. Our favorites are the Chandlers from California, they have the most AMAZING flavor!Back on the issue of AMAZING, your tarts look incredible! All the combinations and colors of the berries is just screaming out SUMMER! Beautiful!

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About Me

I'm a professional musician, aspiring chef, wife, mother, daughter and sister, who used to be a lawyer in a previous life. My love of food comes from a long line of wonderful and creative Italian home cooks who didn't always have a lot, but knew how to make a lot out of what they had.
Welcome to my little slice of the blogoshere. I hope that you enjoy yourself while you're here, and visit often.